Baylor Baseball Hands No. 25 Ole Miss First Loss in Dramatic 6-5 Extra-Innings Win

HOUSTON – Baylor baseball (6-3) won a thrilling back-and-forth contest in extra innings, 6-5, handing No. 25 Ole Miss (9-1) its first loss of the season on Friday evening in the opener of the Bruce Bolt Classic at Daikin Park.

Despite trailing 3-1 in the top of the eighth inning, left fielder Hunter Snow (RFr.) rejuvenated the Bears with a clutch, two-out, three-run homer to give Baylor back the lead; Snow finished the contest with a team-high four RBIs.

After a few more late lead changes, first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RSr.) poked a go-ahead RBI single into center field in the top of the 10th, while veteran reliever Caleb Bunch (5Sr.) secured the victory with two scoreless frames out of the bullpen.

Amidst all the craziness of the last few frames, the Bears narrowly outhit the Rebels, 9-to-8, and totaled 20 punchouts, but went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, while Ole Miss was 0-for-13 and just 4-for-20 with runners on.

“Proud of the guys because that’s a big-time win,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “A lot of fight. A lot of heart. They competed their tails off. We’d been fighting, fighting, fighting, and they’d been beating us all day long. We finally got some guys, and we made the right swing, and it was big-time. Hunter had four big RBIs. I’m proud of all of the guys.”

The Bears got the scoring started early when they loaded the bases with just one out, following back-to-back free passes and a single from shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.); Snow plated Baylor’s first run of the contest on an RBI fielder’s choice.

With runners on second and third and no outs, Ole Miss evened the score in the bottom of the second inning when a routine ground ball to third slipped past Brytton Clements (RFr.), allowing the run to come home. Outside of that, left-handed pitcher Stefan Stahl (Sr.) was able to navigate out of the jam and limited the Rebels to just one run in the frame.

Stahl was phenomenal for a second straight outing, replacing usual Friday-starter Lucas Davenport (RJr.); he struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed three hits in four frames.

“He was fantastic,” Thompson said of Stahl’s performance. “We got him to his pitch limit. We’re trying to raise it, and we’re doing a good job, but we’ve got to take care of him. He gave us four outstanding innings. He kept throwing it in there, trusting his abilities. It was a great start.

Ole Miss took the lead for the first time in the fifth inning on a two-out, two-run home run from left fielder Tristian Bissetta (Sr.). Outside of the long ball, right-handed pitcher Charlie Atkinson (Jr.) was really solid for the Bears, allowing just one hit across 2.2 innings tossed.

For the following six frames, Baylor got just three runners aboard and had 13-straight batters retired in the middle and later innings, until Armstrong fought back from a 0-2 count to draw a two-out walk in the eighth inning.

Sanders followed that up with a single into left field, as he finished the game with two of Baylor’s nine base knocks for his fifth multi-hit game of the year. With runners on first and second, Snow sent a bomb 389 feet off the wall just beyond the left field bleachers.

Despite getting the momentum back, veteran reliever Grayson Murry (Sr.) immediately relinquished the lead, surrendering a solo home run to Bissetta and later an RBI sacrifice fly, putting the Rebels ahead, 5-4.

With their backs against the wall, the bottom of Baylor’s batting order delivered as center fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.) rocketed a double down the right field line and catcher JJ Kennett (Jr.) brought him home on a bloop single into right field.

Later in the frame, the Bears had a chance to get another run across, but Kennett was thrown out by a mile trying to score on an Ole Miss throwing error, sending the game to extras knotted up at five apiece.

Final (10 Innings): Baylor 6, No. 25 Ole Miss 5

W: Caleb Bunch (3-1) L: Landon Waters (0-1)

POTG: Hunter Snow (1-for-5, R, 4 RBI, HR)

What’s Next

The Bears (6-3) will continue the Bruce Bolt Classic against long-time foe No. 3 Texas (8-0) at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Dalkin Park. The game will be streamed for free via the Houston Astros YouTube channel.